This is the worst thing I’ve seen in a long time

[noblegiraffe]

Worse than Brexit. How can we have fallen so low? ‘Thing’ doesn’t make any sense!

Let me Ave a think 🤔

there is a difference between an evolution of grammar and a common misapprehension of an established phrase

But they are often exactly the same thing. A word or phrase evolves because of misapprehension, especially through people speaking it and not realising what it looks like written down, so they use something else that sounds similar.

Also, I think the twitter poll is interesting as it give a clear majority for "thing", suggesting that has or will become predominant usage.

However it's common for something to have two correct, dictionary-approved versions. They often co-exist for a long time.

Thing seems more logical to me. I spend a lot of time trying to work out what phrases like this mean & I've rationalised it as meaning that the other person is saying you're wrong if you think something is one way & you'll find this out when the opposite - "another thing" - happens. E.g. "If you think I'm going to wait around all day, you've got another thing coming" - the other "thing" being that the person will leave.

I hate the sound of "another think," I find it very jarring. I'm much happier saying something like "if you think X, you'd better think again."

I think this is the only phrase/word I've come across where I don't use the officially "correct" version. My 6yo has recently started saying "should of". It makes me cringe even typing it... Would it be OTT to send him to his room every time he does it?!

mitebiteatnite can your DS come and help me with my spiders? (BTW, your username shows you like fun with language)

I think much language misuse continues because it's never corrected.

Social media, forums like this. Dare to correct or point out an error and you get piled on- you know what they meant, what if they have LD, don't be an arse, if you can't say something helpful shut up etc.

I often see posts where the spelling and/or grammar makes it meaningless, or changes the meaning completely. You almost have to translate or pick up what's meant by the context.

I am almost the opposite- I learned to read very very young, and was immersed in relatively advanced books for most of my early years. I still struggle with words I read before I heard. Character for example I have to make a conscious effort not to say the "ch" in speech.

Yes, it sounds awkward, MyCatsHat, but as Yutes said, it’s meant to be a joke. That’s the whole frigging point.

Amazingly enough yes I do get jokes and have a sense of humour! And there are loads of jokes and with in English lit. Though "another think coming" started in journalism IIRC.

You're right though that it doesn't quite extend to appreciating this particular hilarious bon mot. It's more awkward (or if it is meant to be funny, cheesily crap) than amusing, hence how flat it has fallen and why people mostly think it's something else.

Arrgh wit

Thundermum DS wouldn't help with your spiders, as he was horrified when DD did a kill, and said she was a 'meanie girl' even though he's terrified of them. DD would gladly come and rid you of all spiders, although she doesn't do a kill anymore, she does a relocate

I also think we learn less about the structure and origin of language, so "decoding" becomes hard and we use what we hear or see.

But no one uses the whole phrase? People just say the last bit “you’ve got another think/g coming”. If people used the whole phrase then that’s a plausible argument.

If a person only uses the second part, it must surely be in response to a thought expressed by another person? For example:

Person A: I think Brexit is going to be great.

Person B: You've got another think coming.

Both parts of the phrase are still in use, even if expressed by two different parties.

Using the word “wrong” is so restrictive. People are free to use language however they like as long as others understand their meaning.

Part of the problem is I find 'another thing coming' meaningless. I understand what they're trying to say, but only because I am familiar with the correct phrase.

People are free to be wrong - it doesn't stop them from being wrong.

I also totally agree with @MrsCBY. 'Another think coming' is in some ways amusing. Not roll around on the floor funny, but there's a sharpness to the expression that has entertainment value. Whereas 'another thing coming' is mundane and pedestrian. Maybe it is becoming so common now that it will eventually become the 'correct' version, but to substitute one pleasing trick of a phrase with another which is clumsier, uglier, less meaningful and less enjoyable has to be considered a shame.

(Sorry, bold fail)

Another think coming doesn't make sense, another thought coming would make sense.

This feels like the internet amplifying thoughts and creating new things.

Eg someone misunderstands a phrase and posts. A few others post backing up OP (because they were also misunderstanding). This looks like it reinforces the OP as being right although actually its just more conjecture.

Then others come along and start to retrospectively validate the incorrect version by applying odd logic (see 'doggy dog' for example).

It is definitely "you have another thing coming"

Growing up in London it was always “thing”, now in SW Yorkshire it is often “think”. Both make sense to me.

No MrKlaw it definitely was originally "another think coming" according to the OED, dating from 1898 - see this article:
here

And I don't think you can blame the internet as I've been saying "thing" since the 1980s and so have loads of people I know.

It is definitely "you have another thing coming"

Is this a typo...?

According to Mirriam Webster 'another thing coming' is likely an Americanism (clearly now - unfortunately - common parlance here too).

MW suggests that while 'thing' is clearly nonsensical, it probably sounds more correct to those who are unfamiliar with the use of 'think' as a noun.

I think we're all going to have to be more pacific.

I've only heard this 'you have another think coming' thing in the past year. Until then, in my entire existence I'd only heard and read people saying 'thing'

And as someone said on the first page, 'think' just sounds horrible (except when used in the longer example, I don't mind that).

I agree with you OP. I found this. www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/another-think-coming.html

The origination of "another think coming" was also American.

Obviously it's "think" but I wonder if it's a regional thing? I've just found out that it's acceptable to call trousers "pants" in some parts of England now. And I always laughed at my OH for saying "it's early doors" instead of "days" but now we live in his hometown everyone says early doors! So I suppose our country is more diverse than we can imagine.

I am literally a professional pedant and 'another thing coming' being absolutely correct is a hill I am prepared to figuratively die on.

The 'another thing' could quite simply be another thought, another fact, another opinion, another factor. It's a wider, more general noun than 'think' and makes perfect sense to me, let alone it's what we all say round here.

'Think' implies an active effort by the thinker/wrong person. 'Thing' is more passive, meaning it will happen regardless of the thoughts of the thinker/wrong person. In this sense, it is quite often used as some kind of veiled threat.

In my professional pedantry, I have to consider what most people say and will understand. There is quite often no 'wrong' in English, only style, register, common parlance and comprehensibility. If most people understand 'having another thing coming' to mean something along the lines of 'you're wrong [because of X]', then its usage is totally admissible.

Incidentally, 'easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle' is only one letter away from 'easier for a rope to pass through the eye of a needle' in the primary Greek (those pesky translators). So although the latter version would make more sense, it is the former that is 'correct'. These things are often strange, convoluted and arbitrary, so the idea of one thing, and one thing only, being 'correct' is something that should be treated with care and caution.

@MyCatsHat

I’ve heard both in the US. It usually depends on accent, context, and/or region.

jam you mean it's not early doors? I'm from the south east and that's the only way I've heard it